Home
by FMAaddict7
Summary: This is a collection of random EdWin moments after the Promised Day...rated T just to be safe!
1. Their Return

Story: Home

Chapter 1: Their Return

Disclaimers: I do not own anything Fullmetal Alchemist-credit goes to the amazing Hiromu Arakawa-aside from these random moments that pop into my head just to satisfy my thirst for more FMA.

AN: This is my first attempt at publishing anything on this site. I'm an avid reader of many fanfics, namely anime/manga fics. =D Hopefully the characters aren't too OOC. This "story" focuses on the life and times of Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell after the Promised Day. There is no set storyline among the chapters and I may or may not rewrite this to make it more coherent and complete. As of right now, I'm not planning on expanding this...this story is merely a collection of random moments. : ) I'm a little anal retentive, so the chapters will be in chronological order. If you want more, please let me know, though I make no promises on when I'll update/publish...ha. Sorry.

* * *

Pinako stood on the porch having just witnessed Winry tackle the boys to the ground. Her customary pipe fell from her lips and clattered down the steps.

They were whole once more.

"Al...Al," Winry kept repeating, touching his arm, brushing his hair. The three clambered to their knees and just stared at one another.

"Pinako!" Alphonse shouted when he saw her standing there, shocked. She blinked, huffed, and smiled.

"Come here. Winry baked a pie earlier today."

Al grinned widely and jumped up. Den barked and bounced around, carefully staying next to Alphonse as he wobbled up to the house, up the stairs, and through the door.

Edward's small smile couldn't compare to the happily dazed look in his eyes.

"I'm so glad you're home," Winry whispered. She was playing with her hands and avoided looking at him.

"Yeah, we finally did it!" he laughed.

Though Al's transformation was obvious, Edward knew Winry wasn't going to ask what was on her mind.

He moved his gloved right hand into her line of vision. She noticed and took a shuddering breath. Her brilliant blue eyes questioned his fiery gold ones. He nodded, keeping his face void of emotion. While her eyes trailed back to his hand, he kept his on her face.

His chest was suddenly warm and achey, like Den was laying on him. Winry glanced at him again, her fingers inching closer and closer to his right hand. The pressure in his chest increased and he finally realized why.

He was afraid of her reaction. The last few years, her automail had been their constant connection, and while he still had his automail leg, Winry didn't know that yet. She would assume he was entirely whole again-like Al. She had always supported him and Al in regaining their original bodies, but now he was anxious. Had she been completely honest?

Ed mentally berated himself. Of course Winry would be happy. He couldn't do Alchemy anymore, so it wasn't like the military was going to haul him off on stupid missions. He was a regular teenager. Finally. He winced and Winry flinched.

"What?"

"Nothing," he muttered. Alchemy. His constant was gone. His instincts were useless now. Navigating the "regular" world hadn't really crept into his mind just yet.

Winry's fingers grazed the soft white material and Edward's thoughts snapped back to the present. She pinched the cloth just above his middle finger. She apparently refused to touch him until the glove was removed.

Winry sighed and dropped her hand. Her face followed suit and she looked to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked, impatient. His doubts from before flooded his mind.

"I...don't know...if I can handle the truth."

Edward rolled his eyes. The truth. Truth. Right.

"Well, the truth is always there regardless if you can handle it or not. The real question is what do you want to be the truth?"

Edward's voice softened, betrayed his fears, and Winry looked directly at him. Her eyes were wide as if caught doing wrong.

"What are you saying, Ed?"

He swallowed and felt his heart drop. She wanted his automail to be intact. It was written all over her face. She looked guilty, too.

"I'm saying take my damn glove off, Winry. It doesn't matter anyhow." He looked away.

"The hell it doesn't," Winry snapped. "This," she gestured to his right arm, "could change everything!"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the one who lived in a tin can for the last few years. I don't care how my life has changed. My little brother's back," he added in a whisper. He looked toward the house and saw Pinako's hair bob up and down while she passed the window.

"I know," Winry agreed, offering a gentle, but nervous laugh. She followed Ed's gaze.

"What could change?" Ed asked after a minute or two.

Winry turned back and saw that Ed was staring at her expectantly. She blinked quickly and looked away. Ed didn't miss the tinge of red across her cheeks. Inwardly he smiled a bit and felt his own face warm.

"I'm not going anywhere, Win. Not for a while anyhow-"

"What?" she demanded.

"I've...been given a long-and well deserved-break. Central doesn't want to see my face anymore than I want to see theirs."

"You're really not leaving soon?"

He shook his head. He held up his hand again.

"Only one way to find out."

"You could just tell me," she muttered.

"Takes all the fun out of it." He flashed his cocky grin and waggled his fingers.

Winry rolled her eyes. "Fine." She raised her hand and Ed saw her shaking. She was really nervous about this, which made him cringe all the more.

He had promised she would cry happy tears if ever she cried again because of him. He didn't feel too excited about the prospect of breaking that promise so soon. He had done far worse by Winry, but still. He made good on his promises. Winry would never be the exception to that rule.

Again, with her left hand, she pinched the tiny bit of material just beyond his finger. This time, though, she tugged gently. Edward didn't move a muscle. She had to do all the work this time. He took a breath just as Winry did too. They glanced at each other.

"It's like opening a present," Ed offered. Winry scoffed. "What?" Ed retorted.

Winry just shook her head and pulled again. Ed could feel the cloth slide against his skin and he welcomed this sensation. His right arm was annoyingly desensitized. Winry shut her eyes tight.

Ed opened his mouth to complain, but then he noticed a single tear trail down her cheek and his chest started aching all over again. Happy tears, happy tears, he kept thinking. Wishing.

The glove finally slid off completely and Winry shakily laid it down on her lap. She then raised her hand again. She sniffled and covered her mouth with her other hand. More tears leaked down her face. Ed's eyes even started to well up, but he blinked them away. He slowly moved his hand closer to hers, which hadn't moved at all aside from the convulsions it was having. When their hands were barely an inch apart, Winry's hand darted forward.

She gasped as Edward's fingers laced with hers.

Her hand was warm and rough, but comfortable. While his left hand was used to this to a certain extent, his right hand wasn't, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Winry leaned forward a bit and cried harder into her hand.

Ed gave her hand a squeeze and she squeaked a timid laugh. She straightened up and brought his right hand closer. Opening her eyes, she just stared at their intertwined hands. She shook her hand free and pushed his jacket sleeve up, her fingers trailing along his smooth, flesh arm. Ed took a deep breath.

Winry's eyes darted up to his collar. She brushed his fingers along his collarbone, pushing his shirt and jacket out of the way and her mouth dropped open when she realized his right arm was all back. Scars-new, angry pink ones and battered old ones-still tattooed his right shoulder, but he had it back. Flesh and blood.

Without thinking, Winry moved toward his leg and as soon as her hand rested on his knee, her face fell. She finally looked at him.

"Best of both worlds," he murmured, putting his hand back in hers. Winry watched his face for a long time before bouncing between his hand in hers and his leg.

"Best of both worlds," she repeated. "And you're not leaving soon."

"No."

"Because Central doesn't want to see you."

"No," he said again, though this time concern coated his response.

"Al has his whole body back."

Ed stared at her. When her eyes locked onto his, they were burning and angry.

"What did you do to get him back?"

This time Ed's face fell a little.

"How did you get your arm back?" she asked. Ed's thoughts flashed back to a couple months ago, battling Father, seeing Al's crumpled and broken suit of armor...using Alchemy.

"How did you get Al's body back?" she asked louder.

Ed smiled sadly at her. He then brought his hands together and touched the ground between them. Winry gasped and then froze. Her eyes flashed between his face and his hands several times before he saw the resolve.

"No," she mouthed.

"It was the only way."

"But you're an Alchemy freak!" she blurted out in disbelief. "Alchemy is your life!"

"No, it's not. It wasn't. Getting Al's body back was my life. Alchemy was just my way of doing that-"

"No!" she shrieked. "Edward, you love Alchemy! It's like taking away everything automail-I'd die without automail...!"

He smiled at her as she continued to rant. He glanced up and saw Al peering out the window, his lips moving to words Ed couldn't hear. He nodded at Al and Al nodded back before turning again to Pinako. He was no doubt filling her in on their most recent adventures.

Ed sighed and started to get up, but Winry held tightly onto his right hand. Her rant ceased, replaced by new sobs punctuating the silence outside.

"Come on. We should go inside."

Winry nodded and Ed pulled her up. She handed him his glove, which he tucked in his jacket pocket. He kept holding her hand-or else Winry refused to give it back-and they headed toward the steps.

"Ed."

They both stopped. Ed waited.

"I am crying because I'm happy."

She forced a smile and looked at him. He sighed.

"And I'm happy with how this all turned out. Like I said, best of both worlds."

Winry's smile faded. "You still have automail."

"Yeah. Definitely puts a dent in my plans," he said as he stretched his arms above his head. Winry glared at him. He held his hands up in defense and laughed. "I'm kidding. I have no plans right now."

Before he knew it, Winry jumped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his jacket and cried. With every exhale, she pulled him tighter and closer. Ed stood ramrod straight, his arms lamely at his sides.

After a moment, Ed began to relax. He let his head rest against hers, his arms slowly wound around her waist, and he smiled into her hair.

"Come on, already. Granny and Al will think we're skipping out on dinner. I'll tell you everything after some food. I'm starving."

She nodded and pulled away, wiping her face on her hands. Ed brushed his fingertips-of his right hand, of course-against her cheek, gently rubbing some tears away. Her face reddened amusingly and he couldn't help but grin at her for it. She slapped his hand away and turned to walk up the stairs.

Ed followed in silence. At the doorway he paused and waved Winry on. He could hear Pinako crying and laughing and Al telling of Ed's huge sacrifice, which now didn't seem so big. Yeah, it'd take him months, probably even years, to truly accept giving up Alchemy, but that didn't mean he couldn't research it more, help Al practice it, teach others about it.

He gazed down the path toward where his old home was, his old life. New beginnings were in store for him and Al. For Mustang and everyone else at Central, too. Even for Winry and Pinako. He was in no hurry to go out and find trouble. Eventually, like always, it would find him and he'd deal with it as it came, with Alphonse, Winry, Pinako, and the whole Central gang all with him, no doubt.

His mind flickered to Winry again. Her cheek had fit perfectly in his hand. He sent a thankful smile up to the sky before turning around and shutting the door behind him.


	2. His Call

Story: Home

Chapter 2: His Call

Disclaimers: I do not own anything Fullmetal Alchemist-credit goes to the amazing Hiromu Arakawa-aside from these random moments that pop into my head just to satisfy my thirst for more FMA.

* * *

"Hello?" Winry yawned.

"Win?"

"Ed? Why are you calling? What's wrong? Did your automail-what did you do to my automail?"

Ed laughed and pressed the receiver closer. All he had wanted to do was hear her voice again. For the last two years, he had heard it all day, every day. Now he finally was starting to realize how much leaving had affected Winry. His chest literally ached when he thought of her, but couldn't see her.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Then why are you calling?" she asked, confused.

_I wanted to hear your voice_, he wanted to say. "I'm in one piece and wanted to let you know I arrived okay. No fights, no broken automail."

Silence filled the receiver. He smirked. Winry was as unsure what to say next as Ed was. He had fought himself for over an hour about calling or not. He really did want to talk to her, but at the same time, he knew he was setting himself up for failure, setting her up for disappointment, if he didn't call often enough.

"I'm glad," Winry finally said. "Thanks for calling."

"Yeah."

There was some scuffling on Winry's side and Ed heard muffled voices. Winry's was in the mix but he couldn't understand what was being said. Den barked a couple times, too. Scratchy sounds filled his ear for another split second.

"Sorry about that. Customers at the door."

"If you're busy, I can-"

"No, no. Gran's handling it."

"Oh. Okay."

"So...have you talked to Al yet?"

Ed scoffed. "No, I just got here. He's too busy with May anyhow."

Winry giggled in agreement. "I think they're cute together."

"Yeah," Ed murmured.

He listened to her slow breathing and closed his eyes. Did he really miss Resembool this much? Had he missed it this much before, but didn't realize it because he was so focused on his goal?

"Well-" Ed started.

"So-" Winry began at the same time.

"You first," they both said. More silence filled the receiver. Ed tried to remember how many phone calls he had made to Resembool that hadn't involved repairing his automail. When was the last time he and Winry had just...talked...on the phone? After two years of chatting every five minutes, they hadn't required the use of a phone.

"Thanks for calling. Again." Winry cleared her throat. He smiled and imagined a blush creeping across her face.

"Yeah. I'll talk to you later."

"Mmm. Okay."

"Okay. Uh, bye."

"Bye, Ed," she murmured.

Ed listened intently. Was she going to hang up first? Was she actually going to hang up on him? He waited for the inevitable click.

It didn't come. He heard a door in the background. Winry was waiting, too, and he was _not_ going to hang up on her. He'd never hear the end of it.

"Win, hang up the phone."

"I'm getting there!" she snapped. "You could hang up first, you know."

"You'd call me back and chew me out for hanging up on you!"

"I would not! You said bye first, so you should hang up first!"

"Why don't we just hang up at the same time?"

"Like that'll work," she complained.

"On three. One, two-"

He heard a snicker and then click. His mouth dropped open and he looked at the receiver in his hand.

"She actually hung up on me," he muttered. His fingers automatically reached to call her back and yell at her, but he stopped. He gently put the phone down and sighed. At least the last thing he heard was her laughter...in a way. He grinned and flopped down on the bed. Ed held his right hand in the air and marvelled at how far he and Al had come in so little time. Granted, their childhood had been obliterated by their mistake, but they had grown up with good people at their sides.

He closed his eyes and imagined Winry's face as she hung up on him. Smirk, narrowed eyes. He laughed once. He wasn't going to call her for a week. See how she liked that.


	3. His Return

Story: Home

Chapter 3: His Return

Disclaimers: I do not own anything Fullmetal Alchemist-credit goes to the amazing Hiromu Arakawa-aside from these random moments that pop into my head just to satisfy my thirst for more FMA.

* * *

Ed grabbed his suitcase and plodded off the train. It was windy and cool. He shivered and bustled to the door of the train depot.

"Elric!" chimed the lady behind the desk. "Oh, whoops," she added quietly. She held her finger to her mouth and then motioned across the way. Ed's eyes followed her sign and he blinked.

There was a ball of a person curled up on the bench, back to him. Blonde hair flowed off the edge and onto the floor. Ed quietly walked over, waving a thanks to the lady behind the desk. When he reached Winry, he put his suitcase down as silently as possible. Then he crouched down next to Winry.

"Winry," he murmured, placing his hand on her shoulder. She squirmed and frowned, shoving his hand away. He held back a chuckle. "Win, I'm home." Winry's eyes popped open and she turned a little toward him.

"Did I fall asleep in the train station?" she asked, clearly bothered by this.

"Yeah. C'mon," he said and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her up. "Let's go home. Then you can go to sleep."

"Why would I go to sleep?" Winry yawned a second later and Ed raised an eyebrow at her. She rolled her eyes. "We have some catching up to do. You didn't call me last week." This time she gave him a stern look. He held up his hands in defense.

"Sorry. Had some loose ends to tie up before heading out."

Winry adjusted her jacket. "Ugh, I'm not looking forward to walking in this weather."

"Is Al home? We can call him. You have that truck, right?"

"Yeah, but he's not back yet. He called yesterday and said he'd be another few days. Something or another about May, of course." She smiled widely.

"They're not married yet?"

Winry glared at him and he read something in her face that both excited and scared him. Marriage.

"The faster we leave, the faster we'll get home," he muttered quickly to change the subject. He stooped to pick up his suitcase and hauled it toward the door.

"Have a safe walk home, Mr. Elric, Miss Rockbell," said the lady behind the desk. Ed waved and Winry nodded.

Once outside, Winry tightened her coat about her person and shoved her hands in her pockets.

Ed eyed her, but kept walking. Five minutes later, Winry's teeth were clanging together so loudly, Ed feared she'd break a tooth. He sighed.

"Come here," he muttered. He reached his arm out and pulled Winry to him, keeping his arm around her shoulder. She was shaking like mad. "Why didn't you wear a better coat?" he chided. Winry scoffed, but buried her face in his chest the best she could.

"Didn't think I'd need it," she mumbled into his coat. Ed rolled his eyes.

"You better not get sick."

"Why? Would that ruin your return home?" she snapped.

"No, but it wouldn't make it much fun," he shot back.

They walked in silence, both glaring at the road ahead. The sky was beginning to darken, which gave the wind a whole new bitter edge. Eventually Ed stopped moving. Winry slung forward and then back up against him.

"What-"

"Don't say a word," he said. He set his suitcase down and opened it. He rummaged around until he found his jacket. It wasn't as nice as his coat, but she already had one jacket on. He stood up and held it open for her. She stared at him.

"Are you going to put it on or not?"

She walked forward, still staring blankly at him, and shoved her shaky arms through his too-long sleeves. She stuffed the ends into her fists. Ed rolled his eyes because she did this before zipping the jacket up. He bent over and fought with the zipper until it finally gave way. He zipped it clear up to her chin and then pulled the hood up. Winry watched him as he carefully tucked her hair back into the hood. His hand rested a little against her cheek.

"Better?" he asked.

Winry nodded, still at a loss for words.

"Come here," he said again. She stepped into his side and they began walking again.

"Thank you," Winry said after a moment.

"Well, I can't stay up late telling you stories if you're frozen solid by the time we get back."

He heard a muffled laugh. Winry squirmed in his arms and he distinctly heard her take a deep breath.

"Are you sniffing my jacket?" he asked incredulously.

"It smells good."

Ed let this process for a moment. Both for himself and for Winry.

"I mean," she suddenly blurted out, "not that your other stuff doesn't smell good, but-"

"Winry, shut up."

She giggled. He loved the feeling of her laughter rumbling against his chest. It felt...warm. Despite the chilled breeze and Winry shivering away beside him, he was very warm. Comfortable. Safe.

Their shoes scuffling against the dirt and pebbles of the path echoed in the silence. Soon enough, Ed caught sight of the light in Winry's room of the Rockbell house. He grinned at it. Winry shifted to look up at him and mirrored his own smile.

"You suppose Granny has some hot chocolate?"

"Ed, it's late. She's already asleep. We could probably make some, though."

"Sounds good. Any apple pie?"

"Of course. You said you'd be home today, so I made it this morning."

"That's my girl," he breathed into her hair without thinking. And when it dawned on him he had said this out loud, instead of feeling embarrassed or fearful of her reaction, he truly felt nothing but happiness that Winry had done that. Winry leaned into him more.


	4. His Proposal

Story: Home

Chapter 4: His Proposal

Disclaimers: I do not own anything Fullmetal Alchemist-credit goes to the amazing Hiromu Arakawa-aside from these random moments that pop into my head just to satisfy my thirst for more FMA.

* * *

Winry placed his jacket on the back of one of the empty kitchen chairs. Ed took the hot water off the stove and brought it to the table as Winry gathered two cups and some cocoa.

"There you go," he said after filling up her cup. He pushed it toward her and then slid his closer and poured some water into it. Winry handed him a spoon and after getting some cocoa, passed that along as well.

They sipped in silence. Winry held the cup in both hands close to her face. She was still shivering and her nose was slightly pink from the cold. Ed brushed the back of his fingers along her cheek.

"How are you warmed up already?"

"Gloves. They do wonders for your hands, I hear." He laughed and took a swig. Winry rolled her eyes. "Give me your hands."

"Uh-uh. They are staying glued to this cup."

Ed held out his hands and impatiently snapped his fingers until she finally relented. He pulled her hands to his face, covering her hands with his own.

Winry's face instantly blushed. "Uh, you could just give me your gloves, you know."

"Shut up."

A minute later he pulled her hands away. He released one hand, but her other still rested in his.

"How's that? Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Ed was about to let go of her hand when she slid her fingers through his.

"This helps, too," she added quietly. She avoided his glance. He looked at their intertwined hands and swallowed. His thumb absentmindedly ran along her finger. Eventually she placed the tip of her thumb against his and he moved them back and forth.

"Yeah, it does," he agreed.

Winry smiled and when she glanced at him, he noticed her eyes were shiny. Tearful. He cocked his head. One side of his mouth slid up into a gentle smirk. He sighed loudly.

"Why are you crying?"

She laughed, blinking back the tears.

"Because you never do."

His smirk melted away. He gave her hand a squeeze. "Because I don't have a reason to be sad."

"Who says I'm crying because I'm sad?"

He gave her that argument.

"Al told me something the last time I talked to him," Ed said, once again marvelling at their hands together.

"Hmm, what was that?" Winry took a sip.

"He told me that, since I sort of proposed to you, if I didn't give you a ring when I got back, he was going to transmute my soul to Den's doghouse."

Winry choked on her hot chocolate.

"What?" she gasped.

Ed reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black box. He placed it on the table. Winry instantly grabbed it and held it up to her face.

"Wait, are you going to do the one-knee thing?" she asked, her eyes sliding over to him. He rolled his eyes.

"If you want me to."

Her eyes slid back to the box and she pressed her lips together in a happy little grin. She shook her head. Suddenly she looked at him.

"Am I supposed to look at it now?"

"Only if you want to," he muttered, offended she even asked.

"Of course I want to," she squealed. His annoyance faded away. "But...I'm afraid to."

"Why?" he asked, deadpan.

"This is huge, Ed. This is really huge."

"Yeah...so? You plan on dumping me already?" he asked in mock horror.

"Well that's the thing...I, uh, haven't really been telling anyone we were...you know..."

"Seeing each other?"

"Yeah."

"I talked to Al about that," Ed said as he crossed his arms and dropped his chin onto them. "He told me everyone wants us to be together so badly, they are more bothered by the fact we haven't officially announced anything yet."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

Winry sent Ed an icy glare without warning, which brought him back to Briggs and Major Armstrong's cold looks of death. He stared back innocently.

"Is that why you got me this?"

His expression fell flat. "Open the damn box already, Winry."

She gulped and nodded. Her eyes squinted nearly shut and she brought the box right up to her nose. Bit by bit, she pried the lid off and then gasped.

It was perfection in a box.

The metal looked exactly like Ed's automail. Her automail. There were two bands side by side that would wrap around her finger. The top of the ring made her light headed. The two bands met in the middle, but curved off to the sides so that there were two curls in front and two curls in back. Simple, yet so beautiful.

Her hands were shaking-not from the cold-as she slid the ring out of its snug bed and tried sliding it on her finger. Ed's hand shot out, though, and he grabbed it quick.

"Now this part I am going to do. You'd drop it anyhow," he muttered. She ignored his comment. His warm hand held her left hand. With his other hand, he held the ring between his thumb and forefinger. Carefully, slowly, he slid the ring onto her finger and gently pushed it back until it sat perfectly. It glinted in the light.

"I figured I've worn enough of your automail. It's about time you keep some for yourself. I saw this design while I was researching in the west. I sent Al a sketch, had Granny send some scrap metal to him, and had Al make it. He said he used Lan Fan for sizing, so I hope it fits alright."

"It's perfect," Winry breathed, her voice thick. She waggled her fingers, her eyes glued to the ring. "It's perfect," she repeated.

Ed grabbed her hand and held it up to his face. He stared at the ring on her finger and felt his heart swell with pride. He had always had a feeling he would be with Winry, but there were times he felt she deserved better. After regaining their bodies' back, his second to-do was to repay Winry for always fixing him up and supporting him. Pinako, too, but he had to do something really special for Winry. And just like she said, this was perfect.

He gave her hand a kiss and blushed when he noticed Winry's face redden.

Their first kiss. In a way.

He released her hand and pushed his chair back from the table. Winry frowned.

"Where are you going?"

"Not far."

He walked over to her, held out his hands and waited for her to follow along, before helping her up. He pulled her into a hug and kept her tight. He buried his face into her hair and breathed deeply, revelling in how calm he felt. Thank goodness for that, because he had been freaking out about what was going to happen next.

He let Winry back up no more than a few inches. His arms were still wrapped around her waist and her hands were on his chest. They slid up and around his neck as she stood on her tip toes and smiled at him. He smiled back. Both of their faces were burning, but they ignored that detail and leaned forward, closer and closer, until they closed the gap between them permanently.

Ed marvelled at this new sensation building inside him. He had only felt echoes of it before now, that achy feeling everytime he thought about Winry or left her or made her cry.

When they needed a breath, they relinquished their holds on one another. Ed's forehead rested against hers and they breathed deeply for a few seconds.

"Winry Rockbell," Ed said, bringing Winry back from dreamland. Her deep blue eyes watched his fiery golden eyes. "Will you please marry me so I'll always have a home to come back to? Where ever you are," he whispered, "is home."

Tears flowed from her eyes and she nodded. "Yes," she mouthed, too emotional for words. Ed smiled and pulled Winry into another hug, spinning around.

"About damn time."

Ed almost dropped Winry. Winry shrieked. Both froze and looked into the dark living room. There in the shadows, two orbs reflected the light from the kitchen. A second later, Pinako walked through the doorway. Winry sighed and bent over to catch her breath. Ed glared at Pinako.

"Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?"

"Don't you know it's rude to not get my permission first?"

That caught Ed off guard.

"Actually, I was more with Al on this one," the only lady chuckled. "I would have beat you to a pulp if you hadn't officially proposed on return. I'm going to bed. Don't be too loud," she added with a twinkle in her eyes.

Ed and Winry frowned before her words clicked into place. Winry's mouth dropped open and she paled before blushing her deepest red yet. Ed glared horrified at the old woman. Both of them then put at least three feet between them and began tidying up the kitchen just for something to do.

Pinako laughed loudly and turned to go back to bed.

"That dirty old-" Ed began.

"I am not sleeping in your room," Winry declared.

"I didn't want you to sleep in my room," Ed snapped back. Truth was, the idea hadn't entered his brain. He hadn't thought that far ahead with his plan.

They glared at each other.

"You can sleep in my room," Winry said firmly. "But don't even _think_ of trying anything, pal, understood?"

Ed felt his entire body blush.

"Uh, Winry...I don't know...don't you think...I mean..." he sputtered. Winry fought back a laugh, but failed. She burst into laughter and thought back to when Ed had first proposed to her and how both of them had acted like such idiots. Ed didn't even pick up on her laughter he was so concerned with the next course of action.

"Silly," she said when she was right in front of him. He blinked at her. "I just want you to hold me, alright?" She stepped closer and tucked herself against him. Edward tried to calm his erratic heartbeat. He felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

"Right," he breathed shakily. "Right." His arms wound around her and she visibly relaxed. He did too.

That night, after awkwardly changing in separate rooms, Ed finally walked back into Winry's room. She was in her normal shorts and a t-shirt. He was in his normal boxers and a black tank. Silently, she crawled into bed first, scooting over to leave him enough room. He took a deep breath and traipsed to her bed. He sat down, turned, and lay down on his back. He focused on the ceiling until he felt Winry's hand move across his chest. Her hand was shaking again, so he felt a little better. She tugged on him and he finally turned onto his side. They faced each other without touching. Ed reached out his hand and touched hers. She moved a little closer to him. Her leg nudged his automail and eventually draped over it.

Before they knew it, they were tangled together, just holding one another, and listening to the other breathe, feeling the other's heartbeat. Eventually Ed's eyes drooped shut and he let his mind wander to what would happen in the future. Their wedding. Spending every night with Winry.

Children.

His eyes flashed open and he saw Winry was fast alseep, a small smile on her lips. He brushed some hair from her face and her eyes fluttered, but then shut again. He smiled.

"I love you," he whispered. She didn't budge. He closed his eyes and this time whatever crossed his mind didn't scare him. It comforted him, knowing he and Winry would figure it out together.


End file.
